1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to apparatus for re-positioning containers by changing the facial orientation of the same as they move from one location to another and more particularly to a plurality of modular units that do so in a plurality of side-by-side lanes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices are known for reorientating containers, bottles, flasks or the like as such articles during their manufacture or subsequent inspection, filling, labeling and/or packaging. In many applications the containers are randomly oriented on a conveyor by which they are conveyed from one location to another. In many such instances it is necessary to rotate the container about their respective vertical axes to present predetermined portions thereof to the various process steps at hand such as labeling, filling, packing etc. Conventional methods often employ an apparatus wherein the bottles enter a chute with the neck leading whereby the bottle neck strikes a lug and is forced to turn ninety degrees. Many other prior art article orienting devices for cylindrical bottles require a projection molded into each bottle. The projections engage detents or the like on moving belts or activate switches. This arrangement is suitable for symmetrical bottles i.e. cylindrical containers but not for non-cylindrical containers. Frequently non-symmetrical bottles are manually reoriented and this labor intensive operation is inefficient and if not done manually then many sensors are required.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,400 granted Dec. 24, 1991 to H. Focke et al teaches a conveyor system that includes a pair of counter rotating belts to change the orientation of cigarette packs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,628 granted Mar. 31, 1987 teaches a sophisticated control system for controlling a pair of counter rotating belts that change the orientation of containers. A disadvantage of each of these devices is that in each instance the counter rotating belt apparatus is massive taking up a lot of space and thus is not suitable for handling multiple side-by-side lanes of containers.
This invention relates generally to apparatus for re-positioning containers by changing the facial orientation of the same as they move from one location to another and more particularly to a plurality of modular units that do so in a plurality of side-by-side lanes. The containers are reoriented by being rotated about a vertical axis by being engaged between a pair of counter-rotating members. The present invention is particularly directed to a modular unit having a rotatable member such as an endless belt and an assembly of pairs of such modular units mounted for reorienting containers as they move in single file along a plurality of side-by-side lanes and a container reorienting system. Containers of concern herein are generally molded of a plastics material or glass or the like but it will become obvious, to those skilled in the art, applicants apparatus will be applicable to many different containers capable of being grasped, or having a portion thereof grasped, in the bite between a pair of horizontally spaced apart counter-rotating members. The apparatus and method of use is particularly important for positioning rectangular bottles having offset spouts such as oil bottles in that it provides a means for orienting the bottles such that the bottle spouts are oriented along the outer edges of the box or carton or other packaging for providing optimal structural support along the periphery of the package for supporting and distributing the weight of stacked boxes, cartons, or packaging means thereon and maximizing stability for storage and/or shipping.
More particularly, the present invention is a container handling apparatus which defines a conveyor means for supporting and moving containers from a first location to a second location downstream from the first location. A guide means is supported at an elevation above the conveyor to guide the containers in single file along each of a plurality of side-by-side lanes in a direction from the first location toward the second location. A container reorienting apparatus disposed between the first and second locations and includes a frame, a pair of modular units mounted on the frame for each of the respective lanes. Each one of the modular units have a power driven member mounted thereon whereby each pair of modular units provides power driven respective first and second pair of counter-rotatable members spaced apart from one another in a direction transverse to the lane associated therewith and located adjacent respectively opposite sides thereof. The counter rotatable members are disposed at an elevation above the upper surface of the conveyor at a position whereby they engage respectively selected opposite side portions of the containers while the containers move a preselected distance along their respective paths. Also included is a drive means drivingly connected respectively to the first and second counter-rotatable members of the respective pairs.
An object of the present invention is provide a compact multiple lane article reorienting apparatus for use in association with conveyors that move articles along a plurality of paths.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for repositioning articles to change their facial orientation as they move along in single file along a plurality of side-by-side lanes.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a modular unit and an assembly of such modular units for use in association with an article conveyor to change the facial orientation of a plurality of articles on the conveyor from a first to a second position as the articles are moved in single file along each of a plurality of side-by-side lanes.
A further principal object of the present invention is to provide a conveying system and apparatus for repositioning a plurality of containers to facilitate packaging the same.
These and other objects are achieved by applicants preferred embodiment of the present invention in which the container reorienting apparatus incorporates a plurality of pairs of modular units mounted on a support structure with each modular unit having a rotatable member such as an endless belt whereby each pair of modular units provide two spaced apart counter rotatable belts that engage a portion of respective opposite sides of a container. The belts in each pair are driven at a predetermined speed with the speed of one being different from the speed of the other. The differential speed of the belts rotates the containers in each of a plurality of paths with the containers moving in single file in each such path. Obviously in order to rotate a container the force provided by frictional engagement in the grasp therewith must be greater than the force to overcome the frictional engagement of the container with the conveyor surface carrying the container that resists turning the container.